NOPD officers point at empty shell casings at the corner of Chippewa and St. James streets at the scene of a drive-by shooting Monday afternoon. One person was killed and four others, including a three-month-old baby, were injured. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
One man was killed, and three other adults and a baby were wounded, in a drive-by shooting in the River Garden development in broad daylight Monday afternoon, police said.
Three men were standing in a rear driveway in the 800 block of Felicity Street about 1:30 p.m. when an older-model Cadillac sedan approached and opened fire, police said. The ensuing volley of bullets struck all three men, as well as a 21-year-old woman and 3-month-old baby girl who were walking to a nearby store at the intersection of Chippewa and St. James, police said.
Police arrived to a scene of carnage, they said: two men, ages 20 and 23, and the baby all gunned down in the driveway, with a semi-automatic weapon and drugs discarded near the 23-year-old. The 20-year-old died at the hospital and the 23-year-old was listed in critical condition, though the baby was listed in good condition.
Police also discovered that two other victims – the third man, also age 20, and the woman, 21 – had driven themselves to the hospital, where each was listed in stable condition.
Each of the three men, the targets of the shooting, have extensive criminal histories involving gun arrests, police said. The man who died (later identified as Louis Cook) had been arrested on gun charges three previous times, as well as an assortment of minor arrests. The 23-year-old had one gun charge, three drug arrests, as well as armed robbery and aggravated battery charges, among others. The 20-year-old survivor also had a gun charge, three drug charges and a few minor charges, police said.
A little girl walks past police as they move crime-scene tape to include more shell casings found in front of Chippewa Food Store Monday afternoon. More than 20 casings were visible in the street. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
Mayor Mitch Landrieu talks with NOPD Deputy Chief Marlon Defillo at the scene of the shooting at the intersection of St. James and Felicity Monday afternoon. "It's another one of those senseless things that we have talked about so many times in the city of New Orleans. You can see just from spanning this crowd that there were at least 100 people out here, so it's pretty clear that there were witnesses and as we have said from the beginning we are really going to get a hand on violent crime. We are going to need the citizens to help us out, tell us what you saw," said Landrieu at the crime scene. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
Sgt. Yolanda Jenkins passes out Crimestoppers flyers to residents in front of the crime scene just outside the River Garden complex Monday afternoon. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
Mayor Mitch Landrieu walks past evidence cones next to empty shell casings at the scene of the shooting just outside the River Garden complex Monday afternoon. "A three month old that got shot. I mean this is the kind of thing that we need to bring to our attention. Everyone of them matters, but there are some of them that just rise to the level of complete nonsense," said Mayor Landrieu. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
A NOPD officer talks with residents just outside the River Garden complex Monday afternoon. (Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
